


interlude x

by ro_blaze



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, gray fullbuster is in a bad place, natsu dragneel is trying their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 10:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17896370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ro_blaze/pseuds/ro_blaze
Summary: natsu spends an afternoon looking and worrying for their friend. [post-galuna/pre-phantom lord, a gift for mdelpin]





	interlude x

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mdelpin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdelpin/gifts).



Natsu is only partially surprised to find Gray smoking.

They’ve spent a couple of hours trying to find him, just by scent, but the goddamn bastard knows them well enough to cover his traces. Natsu has been grumbling about it for hours, to the point even Happy got tired of them and decided to fly to the small wreck they call home. They aren’t really angry at him.

“Gray” they call, slowly walking over.

Gray doesn’t bother to move and face them. Natsu stops when they finally reach him and lean on the railing next to him, cursing the goddamn height difference for a who-knows-what time. They see a half-empty box of cigarettes by his elbow, more than a dozen butts scattered on the ground around them. The smell of smoke is soaked into the air, making them want to choke.

“How much did you smoke, damn it?!”

They shove him, roughly, and Gray promptly shoves them back with enough force to almost make them topple off. He finally looks at them and Natsu sees red at the corner of his eyes, dark bags under his lids. There’s a bruise forming on his jaw and his bottom lip is split. The sight has them feeling sick.

“What do you want, Natsu?” Gray asks. His voice is quiet and scratchy. “Leave me alone.”

Natsu stares at him. They’ve never seen their rival—they friend—like this. Gray has never been a ball of sunshine and rainbows, but he’s never been a goddamn ruin, either. They can’t stand the sight of it.

But they understand.

There’s always been a sort of unsaid agreement between the Fairy Tail mages to not discuss their past. The guild was a new start—new family—for all of them; whatever happened was a past life. Natsu has vague ideas at most and nothing at worst about why and how and when his family stumbled into those great gates.

Now they’ve seen the horrors of Gray’s childhood play before their eyes and now they understand.

There isn’t much Natsu can do to comfort their friend, as much as they wish there was. Feelings and memories and trauma has never been their strongest point, with suppressing down their own stuff and everything.

“Do you want a hug?” they ask. At least, it brings a startled expression out of Gray if not anything else. “I mean, I know a simple hug can’t change shit or—”

“I won’t mind it” Gray mutters, stopping their useless ramble. He shrugs. “It’s better than smoking my weight’s worth in cigarettes or getting into another fight.”

Natsu doesn’t need another prompting – they almost throw themself around him, hugging him tightly. Gray freezes, then awkwardly wraps his arms around them. Their hug isn’t quite what Natsu would have wanted, but it’s still something. And after some time, Gray relaxes.

“Do you want to stay here for some more time?” they ask after some time.

Gray hums, then coughs out a puff of smoke.

“Yeah. You can stay, if you want. I won’t mind it.”

Natsu stays with him through the whole day, watching the sunset together and eventually managing to convince him to go home and rest. They feel an unusual sort of warmth settle in their belly when they watch the door close behind him. Their friend is safe. Hurt, torn. But safe. They’re going to keep supporting him.

With that thought in mind, they turn around and head home.


End file.
